Quoted:
If you wanted .40 +P, you should have bought a 10mm. [:D]
God Bless Texas
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Too true.
The .40S&W is a +P round as it is (edited because SAAMI specs only allow for an equal pressure to the 9mm, so, my statement is not quite accurate. See the post below for more information on the .40. Hey, I was wrong for once...) Or, a -10MM, if you will.
Care must be taken to not recycle the top round ad infinitum due to compressing the round and ending up with a KB, which might have been the case in my experience with the Federal Hydra-Shok 165 "FBI" medium load in my Beretta Centurion.
It has been stated that the above mentioned load had caused problems with too high pressures anyway; my repeated recycling (maybe 3-4 times) may have shortened the round enough to cause the extreme pressure that: blew the hook off of the extractor; fire formed the remains of the case to the chamber(no shit)so it looked like the chamber was blown out(it wasn't); and popped the trigger bar out of the frame!
I knew immediately there was a problem, so I kept the firearm pointed downrange and visually checked to see if my eyes were still functional and my hand was attached to my arm with a pistol in it...
The gunsmith was amazed. He said, "Wow, that's a strong gun" and "where's the case head?"
I told him we never found the case head and he said the gun is fine and that's the cartridge case not a blown bbl.
Beretta said the trigger bar is supposed to blow out, as it did, when too much pressure is present. Everything went fine. The gun is good.
A further point is that Federal Hydra-Shok 180-gr. standard loads also exhibited a slight bulge near the rim after firing, in both my Centurion and the full size 96. I stopped at 5 rounds and take it that my Berettas don't care for Federal ammo. I don't use it anymore.
Check your cases to see what's happening, no matter what brand of gun/ammo or caliber you prefer.